


The Shrine of Recollection

by busket



Series: AITA EXTENDED UNIVERSE [3]
Category: The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-13
Updated: 2019-08-15
Packaged: 2020-08-20 13:22:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 9,030
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20228527
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/busket/pseuds/busket
Summary: Aita, Purah, and Zelda help Link recover a very important lost memory.





	1. Castle Town

**Author's Note:**

> this is a little offshoot of my larger link/oc fic, something greater! read that first! 
> 
> (also i know its generally accepted that the house in hateno was links old house before the calamity, but just work with me here)

Aita awoke to Link’s voice, hands on his shoulders, shaking him. “Aita, wake up!” Link said frantically, still trying to jostle his groggy boyfriend. “It’s important, I remembered something!”

“Mmn, I know, you forgot to put away the cuckoos last night. I did it, they’re fine.” Aita groaned, trying to turn over back to sleep, but Link’s hands remained firm.

“No, from my past!” whispered Link. “From before the Calamity.”

The two of them had been living together in Hateno Village for a few months now, living happy, quiet, and peaceful lives. It got boring sometimes, especially after their years of adventure and battle, but it was a welcome boredom. When things got too slow, they joined Zelda, Paya and Purah on their continued research on the guardians and other ancient sheikah technology, but most of their time was spent at home, caring for the cuckoos and horses, tending to the garden, cleaning the house. 

This was the first time since they moved in that Aita had seen Link so distraught. He brewed some tea and sat him down at the dining room table.

“So?” Aita said, adding a teaspoon of honey into his cup. “Tell me what you remembered.”

Link wrapped his hands around the mug, feeling its warmth. “It’s nothing specific…” he said. “In fact, it’s more like I just remembered that I forgot something..?.”

“I don’t get it.” Aita said. “I thought you got all your memories back when you defeated Ganon and met Zelda again.” He still felt a little sleepy, and Link’s amnesia always seemed beyond his understanding. But, he recognized that he hadn’t always been as patient as he would have liked in the past, and wanted to be better. 

“I only got my memories of her back. Basically from the moment I was assigned as her royal bodyguard.” Link said. “And there’s still pieces missing; my life that didn’t include her. You know that feeling when you know you’ve forgotten something, but you don’t know what it is? I know there’s something else, and it’s really, really important.”

Aita raised his eyebrows, realizing this may be serious. “You don’t think...you don’t think it could have to do with Ganon somehow, could it?”

Link said nothing at first, looking down into his cup. “...I don’t know.” He whispered. “It might.”

The following morning, the two of them hiked the hill up to the Hateno Ancient Tech Lab. Purah answered the door with her usual bubbly excitement.

“Linky!!” she exclaimed, taking his hands and jumping up and down. “You came to visit!!”

“Hi Purah, how have you been?” Link smiled, lifting her a bit with each jump. 

Purah stopped and sniffed the air for a second. “Hm? What’s that stink that followed you in? Smells like caves and old bananas?” Dramatically, she leaned to the side and made eye contact with Aita, standing in the doorway. “Oh, you brought your yiga. That explains it.”

Aita sneered. “I’m surprised you can smell me over the overwhelming old lady stench in here. Which is weird, I only see a bratty little baby.”

Purah opened her mouth to retort but Link interrupted them. “Be nice.” He said. “Purah, I wanted to talk to you about something.”

It took Link a few moments to explain his intuition about his lost memories. She listened intently, subtly trying to upstage Aita in concern and attention. Aita rolled his eyes; he had suggested going to Impa instead, but Purah was much closer and since they had lent the sheikah slate back to Zelda for her research, Link was essentially grounded from teleportation. 

“You knew me before the Calamity, didn’t you? Did I tell you something at any point, is there something else I’m missing?” Link asked.

Purah frowned. “Linky, we weren’t thaaat close back then...and you weren’t exactly the social butterfly you are now.” She said. “You didn’t tell me anything, but you definitely could’ve lost something important...the Master Sword chose you to be the hero when you were pretty young, way before I knew you. It’s possible there was some secret hero stuff that only you could have known?”

“Is there more pictures in the sheikah slate, then?” Link asked, exasperated. “That’s how I got some of my memories back before.”

“There’s not gonna be any pictures from before we even discovered the sheikah slate. The ones that Zelda took were the first.” Purah said.

Link slumped down into his chair, a look of concern across his face. Aita rubbed his shoulder a bit to comfort him, when Purah spoke again.

“Buuut…even if there’s no more pictures, there might be a way to unlock some of your memories...”

“What, what do you mean?” Link asked. “How?”

Purah sat quietly for a moment, her hand on her chin, thinking deeply. “...It’s not done, it’ll take some work…” she mumbled. “Ok. Meet me at the Shrine of Resurrection in three days- no, tomorrow. Meet me there tomorrow. It’ll be ready then. Oh! And bring the sheikah slate!” She hopped off her stool and began to usher the two boys out the door. “Now get lost, I have a lot of work to do! Remember, tomorrow, Shrine of Resurrection!” 

So, that’s what they did. The rest of the day they rode to Kakariko Village, eventually tracked down Zelda and asked to borrow the sheikah slate. She agreed on one condition; that she could come, too. Now the three of them waited outside the Shrine of Resurrection on the Great Plateau. Zelda was buzzing with excitement and Link, while trying to keep to his usual positive self, had an air of discomfort and worry about him. Aita was annoyed about being kept waiting, and Link’s clear distress bothered him more; Purah hadn’t given them a specific time to meet, the least she could do was be there as soon as possible to ease Link’s nerves. 

Eventually they saw her trudging up the hill on her short little legs. “Hiii!” She called out. “Zelda too, what a surprise!!”

“Took you long enough.” Aita said. 

“Hm? Oh, I’m sorry, it’s not like I just finished an amazing new invention to help out my dear, lovely, sweet friend Linky, and possibly save the world again.” she remarked, sarcastically. “I was just syphoning bananas down my throat all morning. Let’s get to work.”

The four of them entered the shrine and followed it to the very end, the back room where Link had been asleep for 100 years. 

“It’s still weird to be back here again.” said Link, feeling the dry bottom of the basin where he’d slept.

“I’ve never seen it!” Zelda said, excitedly. “I’d love to see just how it works, how it was not only able to sustain you for 100 years, but bring you back from the brink of death…!”

“If you think that’s interesting, watch this! Check it!” Purah produced a small object from her pocket. It was only about a quarter of the size of the sheikah slate, but similar in design; the same dark gray with yellow and blue veins, but without a screen.

“Oh!!” Zelda exclaimed. “What is this?”

Purah was soaking up the attention. “I’ve designed and created my very own rune for the sheikah slate, to work in conjunction with this shrine!” she exclaimed proudly. “And, I have placed it on this device. Observe.” she placed the small brick on the shrine’s pedestal. After a few moments it reacted, and the atmosphere of the shrine changed ever so slightly as the internal changes took effect. She then placed the sheikah slate on the pedestal and allowed the program to be added there, too.

“There!” Purah said. “For the time being, this Shrine of Resurrection is now a Shrine of Remembering! We can workshop the title, I know it’s not the best.” She walked to the empty basin in the center of the room while she spoke. “Link, all you need to do is fall back asleep in here. Once you do, the rune will be able to make a copy of all your memories and display them back like a virtual reality! Someone else will then be able to explore your memories for any vital information you may have forgotten. I originally started this years and years ago, back when I first heard that Linky would lose his memories, but of course some things got in the way and it turned out we didn’t need it after all, until now!”

“Purah, that’s amazing!” Link said. “But why couldn’t I just look at my memories myself?”

“They’re still stuck deep inside your head, silly! You might never get them out. The only way the shrine will work is if you’re in another state of consciousness, like if you’re asleep. That’s how you lost them in the first place, after all. And if you’re asleep, someone else has to operate the rune and get inside your head!” She explained. “So unfortunately you won’t remember right away, but whoever’s crawling around in your past might be able to find the right place or object to trigger your memory, like the photos that Zelda took!”

“How incredible!” Zelda exclaimed. “Copying the memories is to protect the subject, right? If it could possibly allow someone to directly access one’s memories instead of a simulation, there might be issues with somehow changing the original memories, correct?”

“Right you are, Zelda. You’re so smart.” Purah said. “I need to be able to monitor the shrine and the rune from out here, so, Link, Zelda, if you two could fall asleep in that basin then we can get started!”

Neither of them moved. 

“...Actually,” Zelda spoke up. “I think Aita should do it. Not that I don’t want to! I’d be excited to be a part of this experiment, but it’s quite intimate, isn’t it?” She said, looking at the small basin.

“Whaat?” Purah whined. “Aita can’t do it, he’ll mess it up, he won’t know what he’s doing.”

Aita frowned. “I’m sure I could figure it out, if it’s as easy as sleeping. Let Link decide.”

Link thought for a moment. “Well, you both know me really well, so you’d both probably be able to know the right memory if you saw it...but maybe since I didn’t know Aita back then, he’d be best as an outside opinion?”

“Yes!” Zelda said. “I might be biased towards my own preconceived notions of that time. Aita is best as a neutral party!”

Purah sighed. “Fine. You can help me operate the rune from the outside, Zelda. It’s probably best for us that Aita will be sleeping the entire time anyway.”

Link and Aita climbed into the empty basin and tried to lay side by side; it was cramped, having only been built for one person at a time. Lukewarm water flooded in from around the edges. It was uncomfortable at first, but eventually it warmed to their body temperatures and created a neutral environment.

“So...what are we supposed to do?” Aita asked.

“You have to fall asleep. Weren’t you paying attention?” Purah said, tapping away at the sheikah slate. “Get the bananas out of your ears.”

“I don’t even like bananas that much anymore, will you shut up about that?” Aita said.

“Yeah you do, you love them!” Link said.

“Well of course I do, they’re great.” Aita said. “I mean like, not as much as I used to.”

“Okay okay, whatever.” Purah said. “Nap time.”

Aita lay in the cramped basin next to Link for a while, trying to fall asleep in the water. Eventually he heard Link’s breathing become slow and steady and he recognized it; he had fallen asleep. He was always out before Aita. Maybe it brought him comfort to know that Link was peaceful and still beside him; the sound of his quiet and even breathing relaxed him. Soon enough, he drifted to sleep, too.

When Aita came to, he was laying on a tile floor in the center of a wide hallway. Large windows on one side streamed in bright light, and on the other side hung heavy regal tapestries. The ceilings were tall and vaulted, even elaborately painted in areas. Aita blinked and sat up. He’d never been somewhere so fancy.

“Is this a dream?” he said to himself. “There’s nowhere in Hyrule like this, it can’t be real…”

When moved to stand, he suddenly realized an odd weight at his hip; the sheikah slate! The screen showed a line segment with a single blinking point on it and the words YEAR: 18, with some other numbers Aita didn’t understand.

“Oh!! That’s right, I’m in Link’s memories now!” Aita suddenly remembered (being forgetful and oblivious is universal to all dreams, even if they are caused by incredible memory exploring technology.) He looked around. This must be Hyrule Castle, before it was destroyed, he guessed.

It now made perfect sense why Zelda didn’t want to do this herself; it would probably be painful to see a perfectly clear image of your old, destroyed home. Now there was nothing left of this place but rotting stone walls and rubble. In any case, Aita knew his mission again, he had to find a memory. He didn’t know where to look, but Link seemed confident that he would know it when he saw it. 

He set off down the hallway, turned the corner, and crashed into someone face first. The sheikah slate dropped from his hands and clattered to the floor. 

“Sorry!” Aita stammered. “I wasn’t watching where I was-” He looked up, it was Link. He was wearing a handsome, official looking uniform. “Link!” Aita said. “I wasn’t expecting to find you, I’m glad you’re here too.”

Link furrowed his brow in confusion and looked off to the side, then his eyes fell on the sheikah slate on the ground. He bent down to pick it up, and handed it back to Aita.

“Um, thank you?” Aita said, surprised by his reaction. Link gave a short, polite bow, stepped around Aita and continued down the hallway, leaving Aita alone and confused.

Had that really been Link? He looked the same, but he acted so differently. At first Aita had thought it was really him, but Purah had said he wouldn’t be able to explore his own memories like this. Had been a memory of himself? That couldn’t be right. The Link he knew would have laughed it off, making some dumb little joke to try to hide his embarassment, but it would still be clear by the pink blush of his cheeks…

“Hey! What are you doing here?” A voice rang down the hallway and Aita jumped. He turned to see a Sheikah woman storming towards him. Aita’s mind raced, what could he even say? She continued berating him. “Is that a sheikah slate?! Where did you get that? Who are you anyway, you’re not supposed to be here!”

“I, uh, I am supposed to be here! I borrowed this, I’m just, um…” Aita stuttered. 

“Spit it out!” she said. “Are you trying to tell me that this is all a simulation and you’ve come here to search through Link’s memories to find something important that he forgot?!”

Aita was speechless, and the woman burst out laughing.

“You dummy!” She said. “I can’t believe you don’t recognize me. Here.” she struck a pose and winked. “Check it!”

“Purah!!” Aita shouted. “What the hell are you doing here?! Why are you so old?!”

“Old!? You jerk, I’m only 20 here!!” She pouted.

“Okay, but I thought you were supposed to be operating the rune from the outside...you’re not cozied up with me and Link’s bodies, asleep, are you?!” Aita grimaced. 

“Tsk. No. I had some extra time so I took extra care in programming myself into the rune. I’m still outside operating it, but I’m also here. It’s like an avatar.”

“So, you’re not the real Purah then…”

“Well, so what?!” She said. “I did this to help you out. No one you meet in here is going to be the ‘real’ anything, it’s all just a recreation by the rune. The real Link doesn’t actually remember you running into him and making a fool of yourself just now, that’s just how the program adapts to your presence.”

Aita was quiet. This was all a bit over his head.

“I can see from your expression that you don’t get it.” Purah said. “Hm. Whatever, since it’s Link’s memories that we’re after, the only one who’s important here is Link, everything else is basically just filler. You should be following him.”

The two of them walked down the hall in the direction Link had gone, when they saw another Sheikah girl up ahead. 

“Who is that?” Aita asked. “She looks like you, don’t tell me you just populated this castle with copies of yourself…”

“Hi, Impa!” Purah called out, stopping Aita in his tracks.

“Oh, hey.” Impa replied, she looked to be about 18. “Who’s this?” she said, looking at Aita.

“This is my new assistant.” Purah said. “Have you seen Link? We need to ask him something.”

Impa rolled her eyes. “Pft. Don’t ask me. I don’t know.” she said.

“He came this way, didn’t he?” Purah asked.

“Sure, but I didn’t talk to him…” She said, a bit of curl to her lip. “Just wait until the ceremony tonight or something.”

“Ceremony?” Purah snatched the Sheikah Slate from Aita’s hands and looked at the date on the screen. “Oh! Today’s the day that he’s assigned as Zelda’s personal guard!”

Impa looked cross. “Yeah, don’t remind me. I’ve been trying to comfort Zelda about it all morning, she’s dreading it.” She sighed. “I don’t know, I think he usually has training about this time? I’d make an effort to go watch every once in a while if there was a chance to see him get roughed up a little.” she chuckled. “But oh well. See you later, Purah.” She walked past them.

Aita was speechless. “Was that really Impa?” he asked. “She was...she was such a bitch!”

“Hey! That’s my sister, punk.” Purah said, shoving the slate back into his hands. “Can you blame her? She wanted to be Zelda’s guard, she was her best friend. But she couldn’t compare to Link’s skill, and that’s all her father really cared about.”

“That’s not Link’s fault.” Aita said, curtly. “There’s no reason to talk about him like that.”

“Maybe not. C’mon, he’s probably in the courtyard, then.”

They found their way outside in time to see Link face off against about 15 soldiers at once. At first Aita thought he was being attacked, the ferociousness of their swings seemed so real...until he noticed another guard standing off to the side, watching; a superior. Aita had been made to fight his own peers during his own training in the Yiga Clan, but never so many at once. And yet, Link was not only keeping pace, but deftly dodging, parrying and returning each of their attacks. 

Link’s skill in swordplay was nothing new to Aita. He was incredible, but there was something different about this moment then all the times they’d sparred for fun. It didn’t seem like his ability had changed very much but his demeanor was off. His movements were exact and his form was perfect, but his face was blank, nothing but pure focus. While the other soldiers shouted and grunted with their swings, Link barely made a sound. 

Eventually all the other guards had been disarmed or given up from exhaustion, leaving Link standing alone. He’d barely broken a sweat, his breathing was still controlled. Aita remembered the stories he’d been told about the Hero back when he was still in the clan; stories of an unstoppable, unfeeling human weapon that did everything the royal family ordered him to do without question or remorse. Of course, after actually meeting Link for himself he knew those were all lies, but looking at this Link now...he sensed that perhaps there was some truth to those tales, at one point in time. A shiver ran down his spine.

The guard that had been standing aside stepped forward and spoke. “All of my best soldiers together are no match for one kid. You all should be grateful he’s on our side, or Hyrule would be doomed with you lot protecting it.”

“Is that their master?” Aita whispered to Purah.

Purah rolled her eyes. “Yeah, but they call him Captain, not master.”

“If we can’t provide a challenge for him anymore, then I suppose it’s only fitting that today’s our last day training with him.” The captain said. The other soldiers looked relieved. “...Link, a moment.” The two of them turned and began to walk away while the rest of the guards resumed their training. Aita sprung into action and followed them.

“This is it, it has to be!” Aita said to Purah. “His superior is talking to him in private, just hours before a life changing promotion? This has to be the memory Link was talking about, he’s going to tell him something big and important about his destiny, I know it.”

“But, the captain is-” Purah started. 

“Shh! They’ll hear you!” Aita stopped behind a large stone pillar, close enough to spy on the conversation.

“Link. It’s a big day for you, isn’t it?” The captain said.

Link didn’t respond. 

“It’s alright. You don’t have to talk. I understand you’re probably anxious.” he said. “I wanted to tell you…”

The captain took a deep breath, and Aita listened closer.

“...Don’t neglect your training when you’re on your own. Not for a single day, do you understand? You know its always been on the horizon, but starting today, you are directly responsible for the safety of the princess and this country.” He said, then stopped. It seemed like there was something else he wanted to say, but couldn’t find the words. Instead, he placed a hand on Link’s shoulder and said. “I know you won’t let us down.” With an unceremonious pat, he turned and walked back to the other soldiers. 

“Wh..what the hell was that?” Aita asked, turning back to Purah.

“I tried to tell you.” She said. “The captain is Link’s father. He wouldn’t know anything about Link’s destiny.”

“What?!” Aita exclaimed, and immediately turned to try to get another look at the captain as he walked away. “That...that was his father?!”

“Yes, how do you think he grew up so close to the royal family? I’m sure the only way they could tell so fast that he was destined to be the hero was because he’s a noble.”

Aita was quiet for a moment, before sheepishly asking “...Is that how fathers are supposed to act?”

Purah looked confused, then a look of realization came across her face. “Oh I’m sorry, I didn’t realize...you didn’t know your parents at all, did you?” She said quietly. “Um, well it depends I guess! Perhaps he’s a little strict, but it’s understandable…”

Aita frowned. “Link told me that he remembered a little about this part of his life. Not a lot, just that he was under a lot of pressure. He wasn’t happy.” He turned to Purah. “I can see why, with people like that...people like you around him.”

“What?!” Purah gasped. “Why bring me into this?!”

“These are Link’s memories. How Impa acted earlier? That’s how Link remembered her. And she wouldn’t have been so eager to talk badly about him unless she knew you agreed; unless Link knew you agreed with her, right?!” Aita said. “Link was faced with this huge burden, and he was surrounded by these so-called friends that didn’t even like him! Admit it! The only person who’s been honest about how she treated him and apologized was Zelda!”

Purah went red in the face. “...Fine, okay...we could be a little catty and rude sometimes…” She said. “Impa was jealous, Zelda was blaming her own frustrations on him, and outside of wanting to support my sister and the princess, I guess I just thought he was weird and quiet… it wasn’t just us, it was the whole castle, and that’s no excuse, but…” She hesitated. “No, you’re right. I’ve had 100 years to think about how we acted, and it wasn’t right...I feel terrible about it. I know it’s selfish, but I was kind of relieved when I heard he’d lose his memories...I was glad we’d have a chance to start over if I was able to meet him again, but that was just me being a coward.”

“Tsk.” Aita said. “What’s that worth? You’re not even the real Purah.”

Purah bit her lip. “...Well, if the memory isn’t here, you’ll have to go somewhere else. Show me the sheikah slate.” Aita handed it to her and she pointed at the line on the screen. “Use this to determine where you are, it’s a timeline. It would take forever to go through his entire life so I programmed in a few key points. Consider it lucky that he was so important to the royal family and they recorded everything.” She offered the slate back to him. “Obviously it wouldn’t make sense for me to be there the whole time, so this is where we say goodbye until you wake up. Good luck.”

Aita took the slate from her without another word, only giving a final disapproving look before tapping the screen to another point in Link’s life. 

His surroundings flickered and changed in an instant, and suddenly Aita found himself in a ballroom, in the middle of another ceremony. He was standing in the crowd while a man with a large beard and ornate regal clothes was speaking at the head of the room on a raised platform. A young Princess Zelda was seated in the smallest of three thrones; the largest was empty as the king stood and spoke, the middle one held nothing but a bouquet of flowers.

On the ballroom floor in front of the king stood a lineup of about twenty men...and a teenager. Aita tried to get a better look when he overheard quiet gossip in the crowd. 

“That kid looks so out of place...”

“Yeah, it must be easy getting into the royal guard when your dad’s the captain of it.”

“What? You think he pulled some strings to get his son in the guard?”

“He must have. How else are they going to let a 13 year old become a soldier?”

“I don’t know. I heard that was the kid that was chosen by the master sword…”

“You’re kidding! People have died trying to pull that sword from its pedestal, when could he have taken it?!”

“A few years ago, I guess. I don’t really believe it, either.”

Aita fought back the urge to tell them to shut up. This had happened years ago, there was no point in talking to illusions. The worst part was that they were based on memories, real words that Link had actually heard.

He watched Link at the front of the hall while the king continued his ceremony, knighting each of them, shaking their hands. Link was lacking the cold and calm exterior he had seen before. He was clearly doing his best to keep it together, but looked anxious.

When the ceremony was over, Link returned to the crowd, specifically, to a couple standing off to the side. Aita recognized the man, it was the captain, his father. The woman must have been his mother, then. She smiled, removed his beret and fussed over his hair a bit, then his father took Link by the hand and led him out of the ballroom. Aita quietly followed. 

“I messed it up,” Aita heard Link’s voice from around the corner, slightly trembling. “The king asked me a question and I couldn’t say anything, I couldn’t answer, I’m so embarrassed…” 

“That’s alright, you did fine. Don’t worry about that.” his father responded. “Listen to me now, Link. You’ve done well in your training so far, you’ve come a long ways. I’m proud of you.” Link smiled at this, and the captain continued. “But now, you’re a knight. Things are going to get much harder now...there may be times that you feel like you’re going to break, but you can’t.” Link’s smile fell.

“You must be strong. You’ll have to work hard, every day. And I need you to be brave. Even if you’re scared and you feel like you can’t make it...you will. You have to. Do you understand, Link?”

Link looked down to the floor for a moment. Aita watched from around the corner, saw him bite his cheek, clench his fists, look up to his father and nod, wordlessly. They returned to the ballroom together, but Aita didn’t follow. He took out the sheikah slate and selected the next date.

The castle disappeared around and Aita found himself plunged into darkness. He was worried at first that there had been some sort of error in the rune, until he heard voices. He realized he was in a small dark room, like a closet or bathroom, and on the other side of the door, someone was having an argument. He felt around until he found the handle, and cracked the door open. 

In the next room were Link’s parents. His father was pacing about, his mother was seated at the table, her eyes fixed on something laying there, partially wrapped in fabric. The fire was going out and the light was fading, but Aita saw the unmistakable blue glimmer of the master sword’s hilt. 

“There has to be a mistake. It’s not...it’s not possible.” Link’s mother muttered. Aita saw her cheeks were streaked with tears. 

“It’s not a mistake. It doesn’t make mistakes, it doesn’t…” he stopped and took a shaky breath. 

“What do you mean?” she asked.

“Even I tried taking that sword, years ago, I nearly passed out!” he said. “And Link, he just…he just went up and-”

“So it’s impossible! There’s no way!” 

“Then what? Is this a fake master sword? No, it’s been in the castle for ages! And now, it belongs to Link!” he said.

“Are we expected to just send our child off to become a soldier? What about what he wants?! Do we just-”

“This isn’t what I want either!” the captain shouted and fell to the dining chair beside his wife. He slumped over the table and began to cry over the sword. “He’s just a child! It’s so cruel, h-he doesn’t deserve…” She held him while he sobbed. “Our little boy...he’s not a fighter, he’s going to get himself killed. Our son…” he cried.

Aita noticed movement across the room; a door was slowly closing, and for a brief moment, he saw the silhouette of a child before the door was silently shut. Aita looked to the sheikah slate, it read YEAR 7.

He quietly chose another point on the timeline.

Suddenly he was seated in the middle of the road in castle town. People were happy, drinking, singing. It was a party. Aita looked around for a moment, confused. He couldn’t see Link anywhere. 

Then, he saw him. But, somehow he was older? No, It wasn’t Link...it was the captain, his father. He looked much younger than Aita had seen him, and much happier. He was grinning ear to ear as he approached his wife. Clutching to her apron was a small child. Aita looked to the sheikah slate. It said YEAR 4.

“Link!” he said, picking up his son. “Your dad’s a captain now! Isn’t that exciting?”

“Yeah!!” Link cheered.

“Do you know what that means? That means that daddy will have a lot more time to spend with you!” he smiled. “So, we can go to…?”

Link bounced excitedly in his father’s arms. “The ranch!! See the horses!!”

“Yes!! That’s right!” the captain said, swinging him around. “Maybe if you’re good, they’ll teach you how to ride one?”

“Yes!!!” 

“Well, since you’ve been so good and patient while daddy worked for his promotion, we decided to get you a little gift. Do you want to see it?” he asked. Link could hardly contain his excitement. He reached into his pocket and pulled something out.

And suddenly Aita was awake, laying in the lukewarm water of the Shrine of Resurrection. Link was slowly waking up beside him. Aita bolted upright, sending a splash of water that woke Link up much faster. 

“I know where we need to take Link!” he said. “I know the memory.”

Within the day, the four of them were at the castle town ruins. Aita was trying to somehow line up the houses from the memory with the rubble of present day to find the right place, when he had an idea. 

“Zelda, Purah, do you know where the captain of the royal guard lived in this town? Which one of these houses might have been his?” Aita asked.

“The captain of the…?” Zelda pondered, then her eyes opened wide with understanding. “Oh! I see! Yes, I think it might have been to the west?”

“Leave it to me, I’ll find it!” Purah said with determination. 

They came to a stone foundation, the ruins of an old home. Aita looked around, the street was certainly the right shape, but it was so hard to tell…

“You’re sure this is it?” he said to Purah and Zelda.

“I’m pretty sure…” Zelda said. “It’s hard to remember exactly.”

“I’m almost certain.” Purah said.

“Link?” Aita asked. “How do you feel, do you remember anything?”

Link looked at the ruins of the house for a moment. “...No, sorry.” He said. “I don’t think I’ve been here before...”

Aita took Link’s hand and led him inside what remained of the house. Aita could see rooms sectioned with the low, crumbling walls, or faintly outlined against the ground. He recognized the shape of the living room, what remained of the fireplace, the doorway to the closet he had been hiding, and the room where Link had overheard his parents crying. He looked again to Link, but didn’t see any expression of understanding on his face. But then, something caught his eye. 

Link let go of Aita’s hand and stepped into where his bedroom had once been. He pushed aside some fallen lumber and rock, revealing a small chest. It was unlocked, but stuck shut by some 100 years. With some effort and prying, it cracked open. 

He pulled out a small and very worn stuffed horse. Its mane and tail had nearly fallen out and its body was limp and deflated, but hand embroidered into its little fabric saddle was his name, Link. He held it in his hands gently for a moment, like it was a fallen baby bird that could perish at any second. Then he slowly brought it to his chest, and hugged it tightly. Aita knelt beside him, and hugged him too. 

“Thank you.” Link said, quietly. “Thank you. I remember them now.”

“He did love you, just so you know.” Aita replied. “He didn’t show it right, and he pushed you too hard, but I think his biggest fear was losing you. Maybe he thought that making sure you were strong was the best way to prevent that.”

“Yeah. I know.” Link said. “...Aita I have to tell you something. I saw your memories, too.”

Aita let go to look Link in the eyes. “...You did?” he said.

Link nodded. “I guess the rune worked both ways. I don’t think Purah even knew.”

Aita was silent for a moment. “...So? What about it?”

“I wanted to say that I love you, a lot.” Link said. “You didn’t deserve any of that. And maybe it’s not what you want to hear, but I could tell you cared about your friends. If you ever wanted to do something, try to make things right with them, I’m always with you.”

Aita smiled, he’d have to think about that.

“Is everything okay over here?” Zelda asked, timidly approaching them. “Are you alright, Link?”

Link wiped away a tear and smiled up at her. “I’m great. We found what we were looking for.”

“Was it important as you thought?” Purah asked.

“To me it was.” Link replied.

Purah was quiet for a moment. “...Linky, I have to apologize. Maybe you don’t even remember, but I was kind of a big jerk to you, back then, y’know. I’m sorry. I’ll make Impa say sorry too!”

“Oh, thanks Purah! I don’t remember, but I appreciate that. And don’t worry about it, I forgive Impa too, for whatever she did.”

“Wait.” Aita said. “How did you know about that, Purah? I thought that was a fake Purah that I talked to?”

“I said she was an avatar, not fake. I was controlling her with the sheikah slate from the outside!” Purah said. “I could have done the whole thing by myself, probably, but you seemed like you really wanted to come along.” She smirked. “And, I guess I owe you an apology too, Aita. You did pretty good.”

Aita smiled. “Yeah you did too. You’re pretty smart for a toddler.”


	2. Blood Moon

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When Aita agrees to search Link's memories for something missing, Link finds himself in Aita's memories, too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this chapter does have some depictions of child abuse, emotional, verbal and a little physical. its not excessive but if that's something that really upsets you then either proceed with caution or give this one a pass <3

Link opened his eyes to see steep red canyon walls and stone overhangs stretching above him. “What was I just doing?” he thought to himself. “Why am I here?”

His first notion was that he had somehow lost all his memories again and had to start over, but then felt silly when he realized that no, he still knew who he was. Where was he then? He sat up and noticed a banner hanging from the cliff face above; the Yiga symbol. He recognized this place now, it was the canyon outside the Yiga hideout.

That’s right, Aita was going to look through his memories for something important, so Purah altered the Shrine of Resurrection for them. He must be sleeping now. But why on earth would he dream of this place?

Hearing shouting and footsteps from around the corner behind him, Link scrambled up and hid behind a boulder. Soon a large group of kids, maybe around 8-10 years old, went jogging past. They were wearing suits resembling that of the Yiga footsoliders, but no masks… Aita had told him that a Yiga member graduates to the rank of footsoldier at age 18 and are given their mask at the ceremony.

The one at the back of the group caught Link’s eye. He was struggling, going slow and breathing heavily in the dry heat. He dragged his feet until he was just pulling himself along. 

Link realized that he recognized the child. It was Aita. He sat back behind the boulder, out of view. Could these be Aita’s memories? Did Purah’s invention work both ways, without her knowing? Link immediately felt guilty. He had given Aita permission to explore his own memories, but Aita hadn’t even known something like this would happen. This was an invasion of his privacy. 

He’d never been too open about his past in the Yiga Clan and Link never pushed him to talk about it, but the occasional clues reminded him that Aita was still coping with what they left him with. If they ever argued and Link got angry, Aita would freeze up and shut down, like he’d been conditioned that the only way to survive was to be quiet and take it. Of course, Link would never even think of hurting Aita, and he was sure Aita knew that too, but it was a reflex. He sometimes got too defensive at playful jokes and took things personally. He sometimes had to ask for affirmation that Link really loved him, that he deserved to be happy. There was probably a lot in these memories that Aita didn’t want him to see.

Link thought about this for a moment. Perhaps the best thing would be to try and wake up. It would interrupt Aita going through his memories, but he would be able to ask him if this was okay, then they could try again if he was alright with it. Link closed his eyes and concentrated, trying to will himself to wake up, but nothing happened. He sighed. Would he just wait here for a few hours? But if this was a dream, would time work the same way? There was a possibility he could be sitting behind this rock for what felt like years. That idea made him very anxious.

He grabbed his sheikah slate and realized that all the runes and functions were gone. The only thing on the screen was a line and the words YEAR 9. Curious, he poked at the line, and the canyon around him disappeared. He was now sitting beside a paper and lattice screen; architecture he remembered from inside the hideout, from what he saw of it. The sheikah slate now said YEAR 10. As far as he could tell there was no way to quit the simulation and make him wake up using the slate.

He poked a hole through the screen and peered inside, it looked to be a classroom. At the head of the class was a Yiga member, though they didn’t seem to be a blademaster or a footsoldier; maybe there were other ranks for people who didn’t regularly fight? Along the front wall was a line of portraits, all masked figures, but Link only recognized the very last one, Master Kohga. 

“Aita!” the teacher suddenly called out, and a student quickly stood up. “Tell me all that you know about Master Ome.”

“He was the fourth master of the clan, and he, uh...” Aita trailed off; it was odd to hear his voice so young, it was quiet and timid. Link smiled to himself, he’d never even thought about what Aita was like as a kid, it was endearing.

“Of course he was the fourth master, you can clearly see his portrait is the fourth, here.” The teacher said, a sharp, sarcastic edge to his voice. “Your blademaster tells me that you’re weak and spineless during training, don’t tell me you’re stupid and brainless, too.”

The class started to laugh, but then they all turned in shock as Link burst through the paper wall with rage in his eyes. He stormed up to the front of the class decked the teacher right in the center of his mask. As he reeled back, he suddenly froze in midair. The whole class was frozen, completely unresponsive. The room around him started to flicker, and Link was suddenly behind the paper screen again. The class was now continuing as normal.

Link got the message. He was able to interact, but if he stepped too far out of line, if he did something that strayed too far from Aita’s original memories, the program reset and forced him to do it over. He had to watch again as the teacher belittled Aita, the class snickered, and he shrunk and sat back down without another word.

There was another issue; he was still wearing his champion’s tunic. At this point in time he wasn’t even supposed to be awake from his 100 year slumber yet; would the memories keep resetting every time he was seen due to the absurdity of the hero being caught in the Yiga hideout right now?

“Well, this is still a dream, isn’t it? Even if it’s being caused by the shrine, I’m still sleeping in the real world.” Link thought. “And since I’m aware that all of this is in my head, I should have some bit of control as long as I don’t overdo it and make things reset.” He had an idea. He closed his eyes, focusing on an image. When he opened his eyes again, he looked down at himself. Sure enough, he was now wearing a Yiga footsoldier uniform.

“Neat!!” Link thought, reaching up to feel the mask on his face. “I should have done this when I snuck into the real hideout, I probably wouldn’t have had to climb around in the rafters.”

When the class was dismissed, the students went their separate ways. It seemed the memory was just going to play out in front of Link without him being able to wake up. He’d just have to sit through it and apologize to Aita, later.

“Hey, Aita.” Another student came up behind him. “Don’t listen to him, Master Ome wasn’t even cool, it doesn’t matter that you don’t know anything about him.”

“Thanks, Goro.” Aita said. “But I don’t really know much about any of the old masters, to be honest, I probably would have reacted the same no matter who he asked about.”

“That’s okay. They’re all pretty much the same if you ask me.” The other boy, Goro, said. “Except for Master Sada.”

“Oh. He was the second, right? What did he do?” Aita asked.

“He’s only the coolest master ever!” Goro gushed. “Legend says that he was in a battle with the Sheikah army, and as they were about to overwhelm him, the blood moon rose and made him super powerful, like he was possessed by Ganon himself! He killed hundreds of Sheikah and won the battle, single handedly!”

Link wasn’t sure how old that legend supposedly was, or what period this Sada was alive in, but he’d never heard of the Sheikah having an organized army. There had been independent Sheikah warriors and a few Sheikah had joined the Hylian army, but as a whole, their people valued peace and knowledge above any military strength. 

“They say that since he was born under the blood moon he was blessed with special abilities like that.” Goro continued. “If he was still alive the Sheikah would be extinct, for sure.”

“R-really?” Aita said. “Are you sure, is that true?!”

“Of course.” Goro said. “Why wouldn’t it be true?”

Aita looked excited. “I...I was born under a blood moon, too.”

Goro laughed. “No you weren’t! Stop lying.”

“I’m not lying!”

“Well! Tonight’s a blood moon, I think.” Goro smirked. “If you suddenly get super strong like him, then I’ll believe you.”

“You’re both going to be late for combat training.” Another student, a girl, interrupted them. “I’m not covering for you idiots again.”

The two boys hurried off with her, and Link followed. No one took much notice of him, it seemed more likely that the simulation was more forgiving to allow him to stay under the radar as long as he wasn’t trying to be disruptive. They didn’t even notice the sheikah slate, still hanging from his belt. Occasionally a few footsoldiers turned to look at him, which was a little creepy and gave Link a sinking feeling every time.

He followed them to an open area with a few other students and a blademaster. Link felt nervous; his encounters with blademasters had always been nasty. Thankfully she was rather disinterested in interacting with the kids, and began pairing them off to duel in turns. He found a place to watch at a distance without attracting attention.

After a few battles, the blademaster called out. “Next...Kei and Aita.” Aita stepped forward from the crowd with the same girl he’d been walking with earlier. He looked worried, she was unfazed. They squared up to fight, bamboo rods as their weapons; the blademaster counted down. 

It was over almost immediately. She swung at his legs, causing him to lose his balance, then aimed at his hands. He dropped his bamboo rod, and she pushed him to the ground for good measure. The audience of children laughed. Aita was still sitting on the ground, clutching his hand. When he didn’t rise after a few more seconds, the blademaster noticed, and so did Kei.

“...Stand up Aita.” She hissed. “Hurry.”

“My hand,” he whimpered.

“That doesn’t matter, get up.” She said. “Before she-”

“What the hell is the matter with you, Aita?” The blademaster said, storming over. “Are you crying?! What’s wrong with you?!”

“M-my hand,” Aita said, holding up his fist to show her. There was a red mark across the knuckles where he’d been hit.

“I don’t care, you’re holding up the class. Don’t be such a weakling.” the blademaster roughly grabbed his injured hand and pulled him to his feet, making him gasp and wince in pain. He stumbled back to the group. None of the other kids were laughing anymore. Everyone was quiet, too afraid to draw the blademaster’s attention, too. 

Link was having to hold himself back. He wanted to wail on that blademaster, but had to remind himself that she wasn’t real and that acting out would only reset the scenario, only forcing him to watch Aita in pain again. This had happened years ago, after all. He could only hope that in the past 8 years, she and every other evil person that treated children like this got what was coming to them. 

Kei returned to the group. “I told you to get up.” She whispered. 

Link continued watching Aita through the evening. It seemed like Aita’s hand was okay, nothing was broken, just a bit of swelling across the knuckles. Goro met him at dinner and offered a handful of packed snow and ice wrapped in cloth; he had gathered it in the Gerudo Highlands on his afternoon run. Aita held it against his hand to ease the inflammation until it had completely melted.

When Aita went to bed, Link kept waiting. He couldn’t exactly go to sleep when he was already dreaming. At least he could waste a few hours of dream memory time, a few moments of peace where he didn’t have to see Aita get hurt. He prayed that he would wake up soon; if he was going to learn about Aita’s past it should be on his own terms. It was late that night when he noticed Aita stirring in his bed. He got up, and left the dormitory. Link followed.

Aita quietly made his way through the hideout, unaware he was being trailed. He got outside and in view of the sky. Link wondered if he had ever tried to run away, if that’s what he was doing. Instead, he knelt down into the sand and waited.

The deep crimson moon rose into view, casting red light across the already rusty walls of the canyon. 

“Please.” Aita held up his hands in prayer. “Ganon. Master Sada, or any of the other old masters, if you’re here...please, make me strong. Please make me strong and fast, good at fighting and magic. I...I want to be worth something! I want to be important, and loved and respected…”

The blood moon hung in the sky, silent and uncaring.

“...Please…” Aita whispered. 

The ground in front of him began to churn as two stalkoblins unearthed themselves. Aita stumbled backwards in fear; he hadn’t thought to bring a weapon, and they both were carrying rusty swords. Just as one reeled back to strike him, they heard footsteps.

Kei ran out into the clearing, brandishing her bamboo rod. With two decisive swings, she decapitated each of the stalkoblins. “Were you really out here praying to be stronger?!” She said, stomping down on one of the living skulls and crushing it. “I’ve never seen something so pathetic in my life, you’re a joke!”

Aita was shocked for a moment. “So...so what?! I am pathetic, it’s easy for you, you’ve always been strong!” He said.

“Idiot!” Kei said. “You think I got this far because I asked some old dead guys for help? Did you really think that would work? You thought that stupid old legend was true?!” The remaining stalkoblin replaced its head and Kei turned and gave it another good wack, sending the skull rolling down the steady hill of the canyon. Kei and Aita watched as the rest of the skeleton chased it away.

“If you want to be strong, work for it.” Kei said.

“I do, but-”

“Work harder, then!” She shouted. “There’s no shortcuts, no excuses, no easy way out. No one’s going to save you but yourself.” She offered her hand out to Aita to help him up. “This world will kill you, if you don’t.”

Aita looked at her hand for a moment, speechless. Then, something about him changed. The look in his eye went from fragile and defenseless to hard and determined. He stood up on his own, without taking Kei’s hand.

“Fine.” he said. “I’m going to be stronger than you, then. I’m not losing to you, not anymore.” He turned towards the hideout without another word.

Link reentered the dormitory shortly after. Aita had already returned to bed, but he could see he was still laying awake. Link approached and put a hand softly on his shoulder. “Aita.” he whispered.

Aita rolled over, startled. “Wh-who are you?” he said. “I didn’t sneak out, I just-”

“I wanted to tell you,” Link continued. “You are strong. You are worth something, and you’re so important, more than you could know. And one day, you’re going to realize that. You’re going to realize that you don’t need to be here for any of that to be true.” he whispered. “One day you’re going to be loved and respected, so much. I know it doesn’t make a difference for me to tell you any of this now, but things are going to be okay.”

Aita stared at him for a few moments, completely still, and Link expected the reset to come at any second. But instead, Aita just blinked, and said “...Okay. Thank you.”

And then, everything faded away, and Link found himself once again laying in the basin in the middle of the shrine, slowly coming to. Aita was waking up at his side, just the same as he’d left him. Link lay there for a moment, relieved, still half asleep, when Aita bolted upright, sending a splash of water that woke him up much faster.

“I know where we need to take Link!” he said. “I know the memory.”


End file.
